Baracoa Beach Club & Restaurant — Restaurant in Skiathos Municipality

We came here on our first day on the island, more so as it was conveniently below our hotel (Skiathos Blu). We opted for lunch and cocktails, came to around €70. Can’t knock the food or drinks though. Unfortunately what has led to my poor review and experience from this place is down to when it was time to pay the bill. As like a lot of people, we use Monzo when abroad and opted for the method of Apple Pay. Which went through as normal on my end, notification came through and the bank balance debited straight away without any delay. The waiter on the other hand mumbled that it hadn’t gone through and said he’d be back in a moment, no panic as it can understandably happen. He returned and started to go on saying it’s not gone through.. blah blah blah. So at this point he’s asked me to follow him into the back where the manager and I presume the owner are, where dialogue is exchanged between the four of us, where I learn that not only is their payment system new and this situation happens occasionally as a result, but they start to get at is because they’ve not received the money, they’re expecting me to pay the amount again?! I thought, you must be kidding?! Amongst all thus, another member of staff becomes involved. “Dimitra” who whilst she was pleasant and apologetic just kept repeating herself like a bloody robot. I just felt so guilt tripped by them to pay again, even though as far as I’m concerned I’ve paid our bill, I said we’re staying at the hotel above and even provided our room number, where I said I’m happy to come back down later on if it refunds back into my account like they said that it would. But again, they made me feel that we wouldn’t be able to leave until it was paid again there and then. Eventually I felt no choice but to pay again, where it refunded the initial amount and then took it again. So after all this hassle, I thought great, it’s finally resolved. But what followed around 4am the next morning is that the initial amount was debited. So after all that, I ended up being charged twice. Thankfully my dispute raised with Monzo resulted in the refund being processed, but not before they expected me to speak to the bar and probably go through it all again. Overall it’s a nice location with good food and drinks, but please be mindful with paying via card here. If you can, settle your bills in cash. But after this experience, I personally...

I was appalled today. I came shortly upon opening, the place was almost empty. The hostess was kind and polite, offered different seating options and advised that waterfront sunbed set costs €30, but when she realized that I was alone she said it would be €15 + min €20 consumption fee (although from my side I didn’t ask if the price should be lower because I was alone). The food was good, the beach is lovely, and I had a nice experience at this place which was completely ruined by the waitress who came with the bill. It said €30 for the sunbed, and when I asked if it shouldn’t have been €15 she said quoting “when you came I put 30 so it’s 30”. Mind that 40-60 minutes after I came a family of 3 came and a lady took another sunbed next to me, so we practically shared the set of 2 sunbeds and umbrella, and they were still there when I was leaving. When I pointed that out the waitress said that they would also need to pay €30. She was obnoxious and on top of scamming me she had the audacity to explain how I could leave a tip paying with a card. I’m never leaving reviews here on google, good or bad, but today’s experience just shocked me. I have extra €15, I knew the prices before going to this place, but being advised one thing by the hostess upfront and then being charged the full price by the waitress just because she felt like it is a bit too much. I don’t want a standard response I already saw in the reviews section from the owner, that “they understand this place is not for everyone”. This place is for me, I was enjoying it until it came to the interaction with the staff. Even if the hostess made a mistake (which I highly doubt) and I actually had to pay the full price (which again I doubt because waitress’s response didn’t indicate quite that), or if I misunderstood the hostess (which for the 3rd time I doubt), she could’ve communicated it properly and with a smile, and this review could’ve been...

Me and my partner were very excited about this beach. We stayed in Skiathos Blu, so it was just a quick 2 minute walk from the bungalow in which we were staying in.

Positives - The actual setting is gorgeous. The beach bar has a nice bohemian vibe to it. One of the bar staff, who I believe is called Jimmy, was lovely and very friendly.

Negatives - The bar operates a reservation only policy for sunbeds which is fine as they own the sunbeds and can do with them what they please. However, the staff who run the sun beds are not particularly welcoming and actually come across quite rude. They make you feel as if these beds are extremely exclusive. We managed to secure 2 beds due to a cancelled reservation, but that was only after we spent ages asking the hostess with dark hair about how one acquires a sun bed; she wasn’t particularly helpful and didn’t seem to care about showing us how to reserve online, even though it was clear we were new to the island/beach so didn’t have a clue. However, there were many no-shows for reservations that day which makes me question how efficient this system is. I also noticed that one of the other hostesses, with blonde hair, seemed to have a similar attitude. She came across very intimidating. I noticed that one of the couples next to us asked about wifi and she seemed to be annoyed about the fact that they had asked. The beds are also the most expensive on the island, beaches 10 minutes away charge half the price for a near identical lounger.

Overall, it has lots of potential, but I think the staff could do with some upskilling when it comes to customer service. We loved the island overall, though! Highly recommend Skiathos as a tourist...